A Romance of 



Wolf Hollow 


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A Romance of 
Wolf Hollow 

by 

ANNA WOLFROM 

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Boston 

THe GorHam Press 

1902 




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A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


I 

TT'^HE road was a lonely one, bordered by a few 
I scattered willows. The hedge on either side 
showed signs of neglect The sun was already 
high, and shone upon the fields with all its 
strength. The wheat and corn swayed back and 
forth by the wind, raising their heads now and then 
to drink in the heat of the sun. 

Under one of these willows a girl sat resting. She 
had planned to spend the day with a friend, and by 
their united efforts they were going to make a dress. 
She sat gazing at a fashion plate. On its first page 
was the model of a Parisian dress which suited Elea- 
nor exactly. She imagined herself this slight figure, 
the envy of every girl friend. How sweet she would 
look in her pink dimity — which now lay in a roll un- 
der her arm. She could see the graceful curves of 
her girlish form just as it was in this design. 

As she glanced up she observed a manly form ap- 
proaching. The man had already seen her, and was 
coming toward her. 

‘T see you have a cool place to rest in, and if not 
objectionable Til rest a few minutes also,” he re- 
marked. 

She said she would be pleased in that sweet coun- 


8 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


try fashion which every one is accustomed to greet- 
ing the stranger, the peddler and the preacher a 
hearty welcome. Innocent themselves they look for 
no wrong from others. 

“You live near here?” he asked. 

“Just around the hill, in the cottage you see a little 
way back from the road.” 

“Yes, yes, you are Smith’s daughter. I remember 
now, but you were quite young when I saw you last,” 
he answered. 

“My older sister is married, and I remain at home 
to help mother. I am past seventeen. Aren’t you 
Mr. Bowers’ son, who has just returned from col- 
lege?” 

“Yes, I returned last week from Yale. Thought I 
would like to spend the summer home. I have been 
gone three years, and have been spending my vaca- 
tions with my school-mates. One summer I went on 
a hunting trip to Canada ; another I went to Europe, 
and as next year is my senior year, thought I would 
come home on a visit to my mother and father. I 
’spose I’ll get deucedly lonesome, but I have some 
good books to read. 

Eleanor quivered at this remark. All was entirely 
different from what she was accustomed to hear, she 
hardly knew how to answer him. A big lump seemed 
to form in her throat, and she knew he was far su- 
perior to any of the neighbor boys. She knew his 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 9 


family well, and suggested his coming over to her 
home for tea sometimes. He thanked her and said 
he would get tired of his books and enjoy a game of 
croquet occasionally. He asked many questions con- 
cerning the different families, which information she 
gave with much pleasure. Every new name mentioned 
she would glance at him,and not accustomed to so keen 
an eye, she would find refuge in her fashion plate, and 
the dress and girl she had admired so much before 
were gone. In their places was a tall, slender man, 
with a smooth face, big steel-gray eyes ; the lines of 
the neck quite hidden by a high collar. It mattered 
not to her, for she thought it would be a bright idea 
for the farmers to wear them, in order to hide their 
sunburned and wrinkled necks. She had heard re- 
marks about a face that could raise no beard, but she 
thought it much prettier than the uncultured mous- 
tache, a few straggling hairs on the lip, the result of 
a boy’s ambition to be a man. 

She had sat there longer than she intended, and re- 
membering her mission rose to go. When he saw her 
put on her sunbonnet and arrange her bundles, he 
also got up. 

“Are you going home now?” he asked. 

“No,” she replied, “I am going to Mamie Fulton’s 
to spend the day.” 

“If you don’t object. I’ll walk that far with you.” 

“Certainly not,” she answered, and they walked on 


10 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


together up the road to her friend’s home, about a 
mile distant. 

There had been a rain, but the warm sun of yes- 
terday had cooked the earth. The road was rough, 
and it was necessary to pick one’s way as the clods 
of dirt were numerous and would break and flatten 
as one stepped upon them. 

The conversation slackened between these two 
young people. Now they were walking side by side, 
now they were drifted to the opposite sides of the 
road. On reaching the gate she gave him the usual 
invitation to call, the hospitable way of country folk. 
He accepted it with no more enthusiasm than one is 
wont to do, and thought very little about it for sev- 
eral days. She said good-by and walked slowly up 
the path toward the house. She turned around sev- 
eral times to look at him, then stepped behind a snow- 
ball bush and watched him until the road turned and 
he disappeared. He had no special thought of her, 
only a vague memory of pure eyes, blue as the sum- 
mer sky above him. 


II 


E leanor Holland was the daughter of a 

man who lacked the necessary requirements to 
make a success in life. Reared on a farm, 
with the advantages that nearly all boys in 
Central Illinois have, of taking a college course or be- 
coming a farmer, he chose neither. He became a 
carpenter, because building farm houses was not as 
busy an occupation as farming ; he could stay at home 
during the winter, and often during the summer, 
especially when crops were bad, and farmers did not 
care to build. 

Mr. Holland built himself a small house on an acre 
of ground, and with his small income was able to 
live, as farmers say, “from hand to mouth.’’ He had 
five children, Mary, the oldest, who was married to 
a farmer; Eleanor, and two boys younger. Eleanor 
was now seventeen, and although not having had 
many opportunities except those of the country 
school, was a girl of much natural refinement. She 
was inclined to be domestic, quick to observe, and 
read much, though more for amusement than infor- 
mation. She had read all the books in the Sunday 
school library, and felt that the divine hand always 
led the blind, helped the poor, and gave the cripple a 
rich and elegant home. She had often wondered why 


12 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


she was not removed from her monotonous life by 
that unexpected hand that guides the young senti- 
mental mind. 

Eleanor was tall, not very slender. One could see 
the girlishness in her form ; every movement showed 
some signs of youth bursting forth. Her face was 
sweet, but not pretty; her dark skin and straw- 
colored hair made no agreeable contrast. 

She was just awaking from that child life, leaving 
dolls and toys behind her and taking up new inter- 
ests in the line of observing how other girls dressed. 
She could see there was a difference in sleeves and 
the cutting of skirts. It was at this susceptible age 
that she met George Bowers. 

He belonged to the family of a prosperous farmer. 
He was the third child of eight. His parents instilled 
into every one of them the importance of an aim in 
life, and let each one decide for himself what course 
he should take. The older one decided to take up 
the work of his father, and he was given a large 
farm. The second one’s ideal life was that of a trav- 
eling man, who after a moderate education took a po- 
sition with a Chicago implement house. In less than 
two years he assumed all the dignities and airs of 
those most important middle men. George had great 
ambitions. He wanted a taste of higher life. He 
wanted to sip from the cup of fame. From an able 
lawyer he hoped to advance until his voice could be 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 13 


heard in the House, and he would be commented up- 
on from ocean to ocean. 

His first year at Yale was not without trials. He 
did not have the polish of the other boys, and his 
grammar was often faulty. George was then twenty - 
two, a handsome boy of good physique, and a splendid 
athlete, which won him a place in every boy’s heart. 
At the end of the first year, any one would have 
thought he was the son of a proud old New York 
family. He was well received in the homes of his 
schoolmates, who invited him to spend his holidays 
with them. 

Three years of these associations brings George to 
us a tall, fine looking young man. He is not so hand- 
some now, but there is an expression about the face 
of intelligence which impress you favorably at once. 
His eyes seem to tell you his heart is full of sympa- 
thy, and on grasping his hand you can not doubt his 
sincerity. 

On his return George thinks he finds many changes, 
but the change is in himself. He has advanced while 
those he left are as he left them, content with plod- 
ding along, living for the day only. He has come 
back to the haunts of childhood, where he hopes to 
get inspiration for the years to come as he did in 
childhood when he dreamed of his college days. The 
city had its charms, but this farm had lost none. It 
greeted him kindly. The old animals seemed to feel 


14 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


the joy which human beings experience at the return 
of an old friend. The old tree in the wheat field un- 
der which he had sat and rested when a boy, and 
drunk from the water jug kept cool from its shade, 
seemed to sway, lowering its branches as if to em- 
brace him as he came and stood under it in his morn- 
ing walks. 


Ill 


T wo weeks passed by before George met Elea- 
nor again. One day in the last of June George 
arose, and eating a light breakfast, walked out 
west of the house under a clump of trees, 
where he intended passing an hour or two reading. 
The heat was intense, the air stifling, not a leaf on 
the trees moved, the birds sat motionless on the 
branches. He took 'his hat, fanned awhile, then 
without a moment’s thought walked on under the 
burning sun through the fields. Coming to a row of 
cotton-wood trees he followed the shade, and with- 
out realizing where he was going, arrived at Elea- 
nor’s house. 

He walked up the path toward the house and found 
Eleanor, broom in hand, with a dusting cap on her 
head well pulled down over her hair so that only her 
face was visible. 

“Ah, good morning! I find you busy this very 
warm day. I was walking by and thought I would 
stop and see how you were,” he remarked. 

“We’re all tolerable. Am just finishing cleaning up 
the .front room. Will you sit out here in the shade 
or go into the house?” 

“This will be better,” he answered. “I will just go 
around to the well and get a cold drink.” 


i6 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


Eleanor led the way to an old well, and letting the 
bucket drop quickly, the windlass turned around 
with such force the loose stones of the frail founda- 
tion shook so that George stood back half afraid to 
approach. Eleanor caught the rope and with two or 
three pulls brought the bucket to the top. George 
reached forward, caught the bucket and awkwardly 
set it on the side; in doing so he dashed water over 
his shoes and trousers, which made Eleanor laugh 
aloud. 

“You should have let me do that, I am so used to 
it,” she tauntingly remarked. 

George was realizing the fact as he drank from the 
old gourd dipper, with the water dripping on his 
blue, negligee shirt. He caught her roguish eye, 
which seemed laughing at him on account of his in- 
ability to drink, handed her the dipper and said, “Let 
me see if you ,are more graceful than 1. It is very 
cooling I must say, and champagne is not equal to it.” 

Taking the dipper she began to drink, but being so 
full of laughter, did not succeed any better than he, 
and went skipping to the house. He sauntered off to 
a tree and sat down under the shade ; there he opened 
a black leather cigarette case, drew forth a gold- 
tipped one, lit it, and began to smoke. 

He was awakened from his reveries ,by the sound 
of some one approaching. It was Eleanor. She had 
gone in, changed her dress to a neatly ironed blue 



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A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 17 


calico, brushed her hair and was now advancing to- 
ward George, a pitcher of lemonade in one hand and 
a plate of cake in the other. 

“This is fine, do you treat every one as well?” 

“Almost; have to bake often so when company 
comes we will have something.” 

“Did you bake this ,cake, it’s delicious. I imagine 
you do not care for work of this kind,” he dared to 
remark. 

“Mother lets ,me do all the baking, says I do it 
better than she. I like to do it, it isn’t much work, 
and as I have so much time I would get lonesome if 
I didn’t work,” she answered modestly. 

“Do you not get lonesome at all, aren’t there times 
when you would like to go out to the theatres, parks, 
or some place of amusement?” 

“I am not used to anything like that, I always go to 
some place on Sunday. After church we go to differ- 
ent friends to spend the rest of the day, and on 
Wednesday we go to prayer meeting.” 

“I must bring you over some good magazines, with 
short, clever stories, and you will find a great pleasure 
in them. When I am reading a good book, I can’t 
give it up for any amusement,” he continued. 

This caused Eleanor to reflect, for she had never 
yet thought seriously on any subject. She had never 
cultivated a love for books, and was surprised to 
know that any man could take so great an interest in 


i8 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


them. They were called do dinner, and George par- 
took of the simple meal with much pleasure. Eleanor 
waited nervously on him, seeing that everything was 
passed to him. After the repast she helped her mother 
clear the table, glancing out of the door each time 
on passing, to catch a glimpse of George, as he sat, 
half reclining, in a hammock which hung between 
two large elms, slowly swinging by the effort of one 
foot that seemed to keep time to the music of his 
heart. 

Eleanor soon joined him, and they spent the after- 
noon very pleasantly. George told her of many amus- 
ing experiences at college, changing now and then to 
some bright incident in a book. He led her through 
new lands, painted word pictures of certain nooks and 
corners which were beyond Eleanor’s comprehension. 
Toward the cool of the evening George took his de- 
parture for home after thanking his hostess for a 
pleasant day, and promising to bring her some books 
the first time he passed that way. 


IV 


D ays passed into weeks, and the summer wore 
away. George joined heartily in all the pic- 
nics, excursions and fishing expeditions of the 
neighborhood. He and Eleanor often met in 
this way. 

George found in Eleanor a kind, sympathetic 
friend. She was the only one in the vicinity of his 
old home with whom he could talk. He enjoyed be- 
ing in her society, because he could display his learn- 
ing, not that he was at all egotistical, but it afforded 
him an opportunity to talk. It was some satisfaction 
to talk of something besides the farmers’ ever recur- 
ring subject of rain and crops. 

She had no ideas to advance, but listened in silence, 
and thus. she began to reason, to think, to form opin- 
ions, which is the first indication of that intelligence 
which grasps hold of us never to let loose, but is 
strengthened by the years of toilsome poring over 
books ; the seeking of knowledge, the great desire to 
search for the unknown. 

During this time Eleanor’s respect turned to admi- 
ration, and admiration to love. She looked forward 
to the days when they should be together; and when 
they, were together she could not understand why she 
was such a dunce. Her tongue seemed glued tight, 


20 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


and she felt like another person entirely. She lost 
all self possession once in his presence, to. herself she 
appeared like one deprived of good sense. Fight 
against it as she might she could not overcome her 
apparent stupidity. 

One day toward the last of August a picnic was 
given in the woods near by, known as Wolf’s Hol- 
low. At daylight the boys had finished the necessary 
chores, and the horses were hitched to the large wag- 
on filled with fresh hay. Then they went from house 
to .house getting the boys and girls, and by eight 
o’clock all were well on the way. As the wagon jog- 
gled along over the dusty road, the sound of laughter 
from this merry group could be heard a great dis- 
tance. In the course of an hour and a half they rode 
into the thickest of the wood, the large trees on each 
side of the road, met and interlaced, forming a can- 
opy. It was not long until jthey found a stopping 
place, and descending, each one took some part in 
preparing for the day’s amusement. 

They formed a merry group, seated upon the 
ground, joking each other lightly, and time passing 
quickly until lunch time. George and Eleanor seemed 
to enjoy it very much. She listened with much admi- 
ration as he attacked his friends with bright word 
daggers, and defended himself by witty answers. 

After lunch, by some undefinable attraction, this 
group divided and sauntered off in couples. George 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 21 


and Eleanor wandered away together; they found an 
old tree broken down, and into this they climbed, 
finding seats among its branches almost equal to an 
upholstered chair. It was an afternoon which Elea- 
nor never forgot, and in after years she would have 
given much to have repeated it. 

Being seated very comfortably, both were survey- 
ing the woods and wondering at its beauty, thinking 
how restful it seemed, when George spoke abruptly. 

“By Jove, I do not know how I have spent the sum- 
mer so well, and now as the time draws near I dis- 
like going.” 

Eleanor felt as though some one had stabbed her 
through the heart, and it was a -few minutes before 
she had breath enough to speak. 

“You — you are not going, going away yet?” she 
asked. 

“Yes, I must get back to work. I have planned a 
great deal to do this year and must return soon. It 
takes some time to, settle one’s self, and get the mind 
in working order. The summer has been pleasanter 
for having met you, and I hope when we meet again, 
I will find , that you have accomplished some of the 
desires to become the woman you wish to be. We 
never reach our ideals, however, for as we advance 
our ambitions grow, and while striving we pass over 
the early aspirations, forgetting they were once our 
ideals. You will be happier in the struggle than you 


22 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


would be should you take up the more common tasks 
of a woman’s sphere.” 

These words crushed Eleanor. They seemed cold 
to her because with them were mingled no words of 
sorrow at the inevitable parting. She realized now 
that she loved him, that he was the only man who 
had ever created in her a desire to grow, to expand 
intellectually. Now that he was going away, all her 
life was going with him. It just dawned upon her 
that he looked upon her as a sister, and felt kindly 
enough toward her to listen to her girlish prattle, but 
did not love her. 

“You will come back some time to visit your par- 
ents, won’t you ?” she continued. 

“Yes, but I will never stay as long as I have this 
time. I shall enter into business myself, and then 
shall not be able to leave for a long visit. I shall 
hear sometimes of you through some member of my 
family.” 

This again pained her, for she hoped for a letter 
now and then, which would be a great pleasure, as 
well as an encouragement to her. Now she would 
not receive even that, her soul sank deep within her ; 
all the beautiful green before her rose upward, met 
the sky and melted into darkness. She leaned back 
into the boughs of the tree and closed her eyes as 
though asleep. George, thinking that the heat had 
overcome her, took from his pocket some smelling 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 2.5 


salts, and fanned her with his hat. She soon awoke, 
sat erect, quite ashamed of having shown so much 
feeling. All her womanhood rose within her ; she then 
resolved to work and study incessantly until he would 
admire her, and if she could never win his love, she 
would strive to be his equal intellectually. 

She quite successfully suppressed her feelings, and 
assumed a most cheerful attiture. George resumed 
the conversation, and they talked ,on until some one 
came to tell them it was time to start home. 

George joined the boys in hitching up ,the horses 
while Eleanor helped arrange the baskets, and it was 
not long until they were again on the road for home. 
All were less jovial, except Eleanor, than during the 
ride of the morning. Some were tired, others too 
happy were content to gaze at the one to whom his 
or her heart had been given; others who were, like 
Eleanor, less successful in obtaining the affection of 
the preferred one, sat with a far away look striving 
to keep back the tears. They were much unlike Elea- 
nor now ; she laughed and talked and was quite buoy- 
ant. She found words and thoughts which much sur- 
prised herself, and she felt intuitively that George 
was watching her, vaguely realizing a change in her. 

Arriving at Eleanor’s house George helped her out, 
he grasped her hand and said good-by. It was good- 
by, for she never saw him again until many years af- 
terward. 


24 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


George seemed to feel or see nothing of her grief. 
Saying good-by had no effect upon him at all, and 
not even a thought of her passed over him as he rode 
home ; the happenings of the day left no impression 
upon him more than to relieve the monotony. Love 
had never yet come to him, he was soaring high in 
dreams of those successes that would be the result of 
his ambitions. It was an episode in Eleanor’s life 
that caused her much pain ; but it was the means by 
which she left an old world and entered a new. 

George had gone,. and September began with bright, 
sunny days that inspired Eleanor to take up the new 
life of which she had dreamed. She gave up going 
out at all,, taking a renewed interest in her old books. 
She found that her means were limited, and she could 
not do much, and at once began to look about her for 
something that would enable her to get what was 
necessary for one to read to make a beginning. Hear- 
ing of a school about nine miles distant where a 
teacher was needed, she determined to try for it. She 
did not expect to pass the required examination, but 
thought it would give her an idea of what to study 
so she might get a spring school. 

When the day arrived she became quite nervous ; 
as they did not live far from the county court-house 
her father drove her over. Trembling from head to 
foot, she walked straight into the building, and looked 
at several signs before she saw the one of “County 



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A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 25 


Examiner,” She walked in, and was greeted by an 
old gray haired man who smiled kindly and gave her 
a seat. He knew how she felt, for how many, many 
before had he seen the same way on passing the first 
examination. ^ 

He went to a long table, placed a chair before it, 
took some paper out of a drawer, placed a pencil be- 
side it, then went to his own desk, took out some 
questions and came up to Eleanor. “Now,” said he, 
“if you would like to begin, you may read over these 
questions and write when you are ready. Just take 
your time.” 

She read them over and they did not seem as diffi- 
cult as some she had had at school. This gave her 
courage and she began to write; for hours her pencil 
flew over the paper, he correcting the papers as soon 
as they were handed to him. As the last was handed 
in, she cleared up the remaining paper on the table, 
then came and stood beside him, as he wrote the 
grades on the certificate. Handing it to her he said, 
“You have done fairly well, but you need more study, 
and I hope you will try some day for a first grade 
certificate.” 

Eleanor rode home very happy, more resolute than 
before in her determination. She held her certificate 
fondly, which was the dearest paper on earth to her 
now; she never realized before just how much one 
could prize a piece of .paper. 


26 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


Next she was off to see the school committee, com- 
posed of three men. She called upon each one, and 
stating to him the object of her visit, left on each one 
an impression that she really knew something, and 
would make a good, energetic teacher. 

Two weeks had not quite passed when she received 
a letter, saying she had been elected to teach the 
school for a term of six months commencing on the 
following Monday morning. She ran to her father 
and mother, her eyes eyes beaming with joy to have 
them share the surprise with her. Eleanor talked 
wildly of all she would do with her small salary of 
thirty-five dollars a month. Such an amount to her 
seemed enormous, and for a moment she thought of 
the more worldly things of life. 

The first six weeks of her teaching Eleanor was 
kept busy evenings arranging the work for the next 
day. She was very much absorbed in the welfare of 
each child and forgot herself. She found a pleasant 
boarding place near her school, going to her home 
Saturday and Sunday. Her new work took away all 
desire to go out, and she was happy enough in think- 
ing |Of the past summer. In the evening after her 
work was planned for the next day, she would give a 
few thoughts to George. She loved to picture herself 
traveling with him, being at his side at his work, 
quarreling with him over some petty thing, or again, 
the sweet, dutiful housewife. Then she would feel 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 27 


it was all absurd, ,and feeling she would never see 
him again, she would begin her studies, which would 
in a measure fill the blank in her life. 

She had nothing much to study, and really knew 
not what to get that would be self-teaching. Her 
ideas were vague on the subject. She was like one 
grasping in the dark. There was the Bible, two 
books on the life of Christ, and several song books 
which composed the library of the family. There 
was no one near whom she knew could give her a 
course of reading, and the books and pamphlets 
George had given her were the late books and clever 
articles just written. Eleanor realized .she needed 
deep study in order to become a student, and was 
now willing to lay the foundation. 

One day in November there came to visit the 
Berkleys, where Eleanor was staying, a Mrs. Gibson, 
a sister of Mrs. Berkley. Mrs. Gibson was a bright 
woman, wife of a Normal professor, and she was ex- 
tremely interesting to Eleanor. She gave her much 
information regarding such questions that were puz- 
zling Eleanor at this time. , 

No one enjoyed Mrs. Gibson’s visit quite as much 
as Eleanor. Mrs. Berkley was not progressive as her 
sister. She was much attached to her home and 
children, and her motherly guidance was much appre- 
ciated by Eleanor. So the coming of her sister bright- 
ened life a great deal at this farm house. 


28 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


One evening after supper Eleanor invited Mrs. 
Gibson into her room for a little chat, and the conver- 
sation drifted to the subject the most interesting. 

“You will find,” began Mrs. Gibson, “that you will 
need a variety of studies. This is necessary to broad- 
en one, and then later on you can specialize. I would 
advise one like you, who has no teacher with whom 
you can study, to take a course of .reading in His- 
tory, and history of literature. You must carefully 
note the authors, and read their books as soon as you 
can. New topics and subject will present themselves 
which will lead you into new fields of research.” 

She then gave Eleanor the names of many books 
which she had liked, and found beneficial. Eleanor 
noted carefully everything Mrs. Gibson said, and 
with a nod occasionally from her kept her advisor 
talking, who was pleased with so interested a listener. 

In a few weeks she began , the work which led her 
into new realms of thought. Growth came slowly, 
but she developed mentally, and during the four years 
that followed she worked patiently both at her teach- 
ing and studies. Her great, noble soul began to show 
itself, and was made felt by all who came in contact 
with her. Through her hard application and improve- 
ment she became the admiration of old friends and 
neighbors. She had never ceased to think of George, 
and her love for him never weakened. It ennobled 
her ; she held for him a reverence, and could not help 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 29 


feeling that she owed the great change in her life to 
him. 


I 




V 


EORGE re-entered college and the year passed 
quickly. It was filled with hard work; it was 
^ the thought of the future that was the utmost 
now. His great ambition was to enter into a 
career after his college course, that should lead him 
into a sphere which would enable him to rank among 
the first men of his country. 

During the years of his college life he was a com- 
panion and close friend of the son of J. M. Barney of 
New York. Young Barney was always in poor 
health, and he was the sole ambition of his father. 
He wished him to become his partner in his law 
practice, and continue it after his death, so the name 
of Barney, which he had striven to make worthy, 
should live. 

George Bowers had often visited at their home, and 
the family looked upon him as a very dear friend of 
their son. He looked after James as a brother, see- 
ing that his room was always warm and comfortable, 
and that he did not stay out too late at night in the 
night air. James’ parents, being so ambitious for 
their son to finish his studies at college, did not fully 
realize his condition until the last year, when he was 
taken with hemorrhages. George wrote them his 


32 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


condition, and he was taken south immediately, but 
in less than three months he died. 

His death left an opening for George. He offered 
to take up his friend’s work, and was taken into the 
office where he studied law and had the advantage of 
an old lawyer’s experience. He was soon able to 
take up minor cases, and study them before consult- 
ing Mr. Barney, who found him in time so competent 
that he left his office work entirely to George. 

In two years Mr. Barney was very proud of him. 
He would watch him plead a case with such earnest- 
ness and splendid knowledge of law, that his heart 
thrilled with pride and pleasure. He seemed to for- 
get that George was not his son. His dream when 
James was young was being realized. When old cli- 
ents would come forth, take his hand and say, “Your 
partner has a great future before him, you may well 
be proud of your work,” then it was that his heart 
throbbed, but when he would think, “He is not my 
own son,” his heart seemed to stop at the thought of 
having lost a son. 

When George was a visitor at the Barney home 
during his school days, there was a little daughter 
Jeanette. At the time that George entered into the 
office of her father she was still a little girl at school. 

She returned home from Miss Hathaway’s private 
school the spring after George made his debut as a 
lawyer and an active partner of her father. Her 



eanette 




1 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 33 


parents had planned for her, before her return home. 
Disappointed in their aspirations for their son, they 
wanted to realize something from their daughter. 
Why should she not marry George? He had taken 
the place of James, their son, and his marriage to 
Jeanette would make him a veritable son. 

Her first summer home Mr. Barney bought a yacht, 
and George and Jeanette had occasion to be together 
very much. Sometimes it was only for two days up 
to Cape Cod, sometimes a week going along the coast 
to Maine and back, or down to Virginia and return. 

On each trip Jeanette arranged to have some of her 
school friends along, which helped them to pass the 
hours pleasantly. In the morning they made a sur- 
vey of the sky and sea, and enjoyed the pitching of 
the boat as they formed a semi-circle on a seat in the 
bow. Sometimes the seat would not hold all the 
party and two or three young men would be com- 
pelled to stand. Balancing themselves with the boat, 
forward when the bow was up, and backward when 
down, made them feel like old sailors after an hour 
or two of this exercise. They would be the first to 
suggest steamer chairs, and off to the cabins for pil- 
lows and blankets, would return to wrap the girls up 
snugly. After several trips for books, veils, hatpins, 
etc., they would return and seat themselves for an 
hour or so of reading with intervals of gazing at the 
sea and dreaming. There is something about the sea 


34 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


that makes one stupid in the morning. After rising 
it really takes one the morning to awake himself, and 
it is not until the noonday meal that one feels jovial 
and talkative. 

It was at this time the conversation would resume 
a more private nature, and the groups became scat- 
tered, promenading two and two. George on these 
occasions would come and walk with Jeanette, be- 
cause he wanted to show the utmost respect for her, 
and because he was beginning to like to be with her. 

One evening after dinner, while the company was 
still in the salon, returning home from a cruise to 
Nova Scotia, which was to be the last long trip of 
the season, Jeanette slipped out and walked to the 
stern, and stood looking into the sea. The moon was 
trying to shine through the heavy clouds. They 
moved swiftly, opened now and then, and the moon 
peeped through, throwing a stream, of light across the 
sea to the yacht. It tipped the waves with silver just 
long enough for one to drink in its beauty, when 
another big cloud would come and hide it from 
Jeanette’s view. But away near the horizon could be 
seen a large patch of light on the sea, which gradu- 
ally grew smaller and came across to greet Jeanette 
as the moon beamed forth. 

It was thus she stood watching and meditating 
when a hand touched her arm, and looking up she 
saw George. 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 35 

“I have been looking everywhere for you,” he be- 
gan. 

“I stole out to get some fresh air, and finding the 
moonlight so beautiful, have been watching the pranks 
of the moon, and playing peek-a-boo with her,” she 
sweetly replied. 

“Well, let us play peek-a-boo. Do you object?” he 
asked. 

“No, but I am afraid I might fall over some of 
these windlasses or coils of rope when the moon is 
hiding.” 

“That would be nice,” he answered, “I could catch 
you. Shall we begin now?” 

Jeanette only held on tighter to the railing and 
laughed. Just what she was laughing about she did 
not know, but she felt strange being all alone with a 
man on a yacht at sea, even if it were George. 

He slipped him arm around her, to steady her, and 
bending forward so as to look into her face when the 
moonlight permitted it, talked on at random. 

“Would you mind my catching you and holding you 
forever?” he ventured to ask. 

“Holding me forever, wouldn’t you get tired?” 

“I don’t believe I would. I think we could be very 
happy together,” he replied. 

She tried to slip away, but his strong arm held her. 
“I know I would get awfully tired. Please let me 
go,” she cried. 


36 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


Jeanette knew her father’s wishes, and felt it was 
needless to wait lest she would displease him. “Do 
you wish it very much, George?” she asked, feeling 
her way and looking up coyly at him. 

It was the first time she had called him by his 
Christian name, and he felt now as if she did care a 
little for him. 

“Yes dear, I do wish it. I love you, and won’t you 
say you like me a little in return?” he answered. 

“It is such a sudden change from brother to lover 
that I do not really know what I do think. You 
know I have liked you as a brother, and I think I will 
as my husband.” 

Their lips met and they sealed the sweetest contract 
that God ever left to the power of man to make. 

George went to Mr. Barney early the next morning 
to ask his consent. 

“Ah, George ! you please me very much. I am 
glad to know you will be in my family and take the 
place of my son, which you have done so nobly in my 
business. Now, as this is the last night on board, let 
us celebrate it by having a good time and announce 
the engagement. 

George acquiesced and orders were given immedi- 
ately for the evening’s entertainment. Everyone was 
busy during the day packing up his steamer trunk 
and porte-manteaux. They were all declaring it was 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 37 


the best time they had ever had. Some who thought 
the voyage had been too short, kept on the side of 
the yacht where only the ocean was visible. The 
other side the shore could be seen, and it reminded 
them of home, winter obligations, and return to col- 
lege. 

All were conscious of something unusual for the 
evening’s entertainment. The cooks and waiters were 
rushing about, and the party thought the confusion 
was due to the joy of the servants because they were 
getting back to the city. As it was a farewell din- 
ner they all descended early to dress for the occa- 
sion. 

One by one they sauntered into the salon, and were 
profuse in their expressions of appreciation of the 
trip. Jeanette came, looking paler than usual. 
George never looked brighter; his eyes beamed with 
joy, and he was unusually talkative. The girls 
looked with envy as he rose at the call of dinner, and 
taking Jeanette’s arm led her into dinner, where there 
seemed to be no end of courses. 

While they were still sipping their coffee, Mr. Bar- 
ney arose and announced the engagement of his 
daughter to Mr. Bowers. Congratulations followed, 
and then they went up on deck to dance. They did 
not dance long, they were tired from packing; and 
the girls were too interested in the engagement of 
Jeanette. 


38 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


They said good night to the men who remained on 
deck to smoke, and they filed off to Jeanette’s room. 
There they remained long, talking over the plans for 
the winter. They formed a pretty group, part on the 
couch and part on the bed. Jeanette sat on a steamer 
trunk on which were thrown the rugs and pillows. 
She could see all the girls which partly helped her to 
understand the new change in affairs; but they all 
talked together, and each seemed to know better than 
the other what was best. At the end Jeanette knew 
as little of what had been decided upon as if they had 
not talked at all. There had been too ma;iy things 
said, contradicted and resaid. They kissed Jeanette 
on saying good night, and went to their rooms prom- 
ising to call later at her home to help her with the 
details of her wedding. 

The next morning, arriving in the city, they drove 
to their own homes. Arrangements soon began to be 
made for the wedding, which took place early in De- 
cember. 


VI 


D uring the four years that Eleanor taught, she 
managed to save money enough to enable her 
to enter the Teachers’ College attached to 
the Columbia University. She chose New 
York because she had a cousin who was studying in 
the Art League, and she had written Eleanor that she 
could share her studio and expense of living. 

She was soon living in a new world. She met many 
of the art students, and their studio was often the 
place of meeting, where they met and discussed the 
latest picture, or the favorite painter. 

The adjoining studio was occupied by a young man 
who looked after the girls like a brother. He was 
with them frequently, and enjoyed being invited to 
eat with them, when they had taken the trouble to 
cook something extra. When a big box came from 
his mother filled with chicken, cakes, preserves, 
pickles, and all good things that a mother can think 
of, he cheerfully shared them with the girls. 

Eleanor enjoyed her work, although it was a little 
difficult. She had not had any system, and it was 
not so easy to follow another’s thought as she had 
imagined. She had been wont to spend much time 
in day-dreaming. While her cousin put her dreams 
on canvas, Eleanor would transfer hers from her 


40 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


brain to the skylight with the blue of the heavens for 
a background, and then transfer them to paper. Oh, 
the wonderful things planned, the great deeds done in 
those moments. The ambitions of youth have no 
limits. They lure you on to daring failures, and 
often give you such a set back that it is years before 
you can rise above it. To get up again is a much 
slower process. You go slowly, feeling your way, 
afraid to venture, if you gain a little you hold tight 
for fear you will lose again, and all will be lost. 
Slowly and surely you go studying each proposition 
from all sides; you become cool and calculating, 
weighing the results; and in a few years you find 
yourself callous and so very practical that you evade 
everything that belongs to sentiment. 

Eleanor had experience this, and now she was de- 
termined to find happiness in a sphere where the head 
ruled over the heart. She watched with interest the 
growing infatuation between her cousin and their 
next door neighbor, Harold Streeter. One morning 
as the two girls each sat occupied with her own work 
the cousin ventured to speak. 

“Eleanor, I am tired trying to find fame and for- 
tune. It is a dreary existence, working each day 
painting some new picture that has been formed in 
your mind, and looking upon it anew in the morning 
to find it full of defects, and not at all what you want 
it to be. I am going to get married and let art go.” 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 41 


“Oh, since when this sudden change?” replied 
Eleanor. 

“Only since yesterday — day before yesterday, I 
don’t remember just when it was,” continued the 
cousin as she wiped out her morning’s work with 
three or four sweeps of the brush. 

“I think you better think it over for some time. 
You must remember that Harold is only a student 
also, and his pictures are not selling famously yet. 
You will not find it as smooth sailing with two ama- 
teurs in the boat as with one,” answered Eleanor 
with a wise twinkle in her eye. 

“Oh, we will manage to get along. You and I 
differ greatly in this respect: you are so practical, and 
never think you are going to succeed until you have ; 
and I am always anticipating success until I am dis- 
appointed. After a short time I have forgotten it, 
and commence trusting again in Providence,” con- 
tinued her cousin Silora. 

“Perhaps you are right,” dreamily replied Eleanor, 
as for a brief moment her thoughts reverted to her 
own great ambitiins, which had led her up and down 
devious mental ways. Then she continued, “As for 
me, I would want something more tangible to 
build a home life upon than love and a hope that ‘we 
will manage to get along’,” which remark will show 
plainly that Eleanor was no longer the little dreamer 
of the picnic days on the farm. 


42 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


Eleanor leaned her head back upon the easy chair 
on which she was sitting. Though her dreams were 
less vivid, her hair had taken on a brightness that 
changed the straw color of olden times, and her skin, 
not so dark now as when so constantly exposed to 
the kisses of the sun, flushed with every passing emo- 
tion. 

Her cousin wished she could paint her as she sat 
there, her sweet face somewhat troubled with the 
memories which her cousin’s confidence inspired. 
How strange to love and be beloved, she kept reflect- 
ing when she wanted to think of sage counsel to give 
her cousin. Rousing herself, finally she said : “And 
your career ! I am sure if I had had the distraction 
of loving and being loved, I should never have been 
able to keep on planning for a future, however it 
might look in advance. I should have been too sat- 
isfied with the present.” 

“But you loved your school children, my dear. My 
best work has been done since I loved Harold, and 
I am sure some of the sweetest little stories you have 
ever written were inspired by some love as you sat 
at your desk and wrote unconsciously feeling the in- 
fluence of the little ones. It must have been that love 
for you have certainly never known another, and — ” 

In a moment Silora was on her knees beside Elea- 
nor, whose face had flushed, then paled, until her 
cousin saw that some deep feeling was thrilling her 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 43 


and causing her to suffer. Throwing her arms about 
her she said, “O, forgive me, dearest, what have I 
said?” 

Eleanor’s only reply was a flood of tears, then 
throwing back her head she laughed, though patheti- 
cally, as she struggled to control herself. “My dear, 
you have done no harm. Perhaps it is best that 
years of hidden memories should find daylight before 
so sympathetic a listener. Long ago I loved a young 
man whose memory has grown dimmer with the 
days; but whose influence has been an uplifting 
power ever since. It was he who unintentionally 
showed me to myself — a shy, ignorant little country 
girl, content to love the birds, trees and flowers with 
a voiceless adoration. His words of the world be- 
yond me inspired me to try to rise, to at least appre- 
ciate the things he loved. For him it was the idle 
doings of an empty summer day; but to me it meant 
the opening of the gates of Paradise. You know 
some of my struggles and my ambition to write. And 
how, after many disappointments at receiving back 
rejected manuscripts, I finally succeeded in getting 
my stories accepted. I am yet far from reaching 
my ideals but I still work on. You call me practical, 
and I am in a measure, but I, too, have my dreams of 
better word pictures than I have ever yet painted. 
While I do not expect that love for a man will ever 
again enter my life, still I sympathize with you, dear 


44 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


Silora. I sincerely pray that you may be happy both 
in your art and in your husband,” and rising and 
gently kissing her cousin, Eleanor went to her own 
room to dream of the green of the trees and the blue 
of the sky of a far away dead day whose ghost was 
not yet laid. 


VII 


EORGE and Jeanette had been married three 
years, and two children had come to their 

JT home to make the marriage ties stronger. 
During this time Jeanette’s soul had sought 
the gaieties of the world. A longing to get out and 
soar among the many and be admired by a certain set 
took possession of her. She had a strong passion to 
excel in her home receptions, to dress and reign 
queen. She would drag George out on every occa- 
sion ; he would implore and entreat for one evening 
at home with the babies, but she strongly protested 
against it. She accused him of getting old and caring 
only for fortune seeking. Finally he emphatically re- 
fused to go so often, and she took it very sweetly, 
consoling herself with the reflection that if he cared 
to stay at home he could do so. 

One evening upon coming home he found her 
dressed in evening costume, and asked her where she 
was going. 

“I am going to the opera, to Mrs. Sanford’s box 
party. Mr. Griswold is coming to escort me,” she 
saucily remarked. 

“Now, Jeanette, I do not want to reprimand you, 
but do you think you are doing what is becoming a 
married woman; isn’t your love for your children 


46 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


greater than your desire to go every evening?” he 
asked. 

"Well, if I listened to you all the time I would nev- 
er go. I cannot see any enjoyment in staying at 
home.” 

"You would if you remained here long enough. 
We can go when we care to go to something good, 
but what enjoyment can you find in every theatre, re- 
ception, or anything to be going?” 

Mr. Griswold was announced and the conversation 
ended. George Bowers stood still, as he heard his 
wife trip gaily down the stairs to meet his old friend. 
In a few minutes her merry laugh rang out, the door 
closed and he heard the rolling of wheels, but still he 
stood following her with his mind’s eye. 

A terrible and inexplicable weight seemed to rest 
upon his heart. It was almost carrying him down— 
down; he went to the recess in the window and 
looked out in the direction they had gone. He 
grasped his hair and pulled it to see if he was still 
capable of feeling. He suddenly realized what the 
future meant for him. He knew it would be of no 
use to argue with her, she would never change. He 
knew now that she cared neither for his business suc- 
cess, nor the education of his children. What must 
he do? Live on, and do the best he could for his chil- 
dren, be a father and mother to them, and let her re- 
main his wife only in name? Yes, it would be better 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 47 


so, the world must never know but that Jeanette is 
the most devoted of mothers and wives. He would 
never be guilty again of showing he was opposed to 
her going out, and not walking with her to the car- 
riage. 

He walked to the nursery and asked the maid to go 
out for a couple of hours, as he would take care of 
the children. The baby, a girl of a few months, was 
lying in her cradle cooing to herself, and kept her 
little feet going to her music, while in the corner a 
bright boy of two years was stacking toy upon toy to 
see just how high it would reach. 

George took up the baby and sat down. She 
clapped her hands, then pulled at the lapels of his 
coat to lift herself up. She put her dear little face 
in George’s neck and cooed again and again; she 
stuck her fingers in his mouth; she would pull his 
hair, and open her eyes with an expression as if ask- 
ing, “Does it hurt?” How he lover her! He held 
her close to him, and felt nearer to her than ever. 
His love seemed to strong that he had an impulse to 
squeeze her, but he was afraid for fear he might take 
the breath from her — she was so fragile. He kissed 
her sweet face, her hands and hair, and then laid her 
in his arm and gently rocked her to sleep. Little 
Reginald came over and climbedon to the other knee, 
and lay down to be rocked. They soon fell asleep, 
but he did not lay them down, he felt as if he were 


48 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


holding on to life’s thread, and he rocked on and on. 
He felt no ill will toward his wife, but he realized 
they did not agree and he feared they never could. 
He would never be unkind to her, and would try 
doubly hard to be patient ; perhaps in time she would 
tire of worldly pleasures, and return to her duties 
and find pleasure in them. 

The nurse returned and relieved George, and he left 
her to put the children to bed, while he went to his 


own room. 




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VIII 


T he winter passed into summer, and the sum- 
mer passed into winter again, but there was no 
change in Jeanette. Her desire to go in- 
creased, and she went continuously. 

George began to realize that friends were begin- 
ning to wonder, and he would not have anyone ques- 
tion his wife’s reputation, so he insisted on going out 
with her. She tried to keep him from doing so, say- 
ing she always had an engagement with Mr. Gris- 
wold. 

“You are my wife and I shall go with you ; if Mr. 
Griswold wishes to accompany us he may do so,” 
George often remarked. 

Jeanette was always nervous and impatient on the 
way to and from the place of amusement, but as soon 
as she was there she turned her brightest side to the 
world, and became the brightest and most jovial one 
of all. George never complained, as he had made up 
his mind to bear good naturedly his wife’s shortcom- 
ings. 

When winter amusements were becoming less, and 
society had begun to lay away its gay robes for the 
darker ones of Lent, Jeanette made up her mind to 
flee from her home. She was now confident that she 


so A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


had never loved George, and being so young did not 
know before whether she did or not. 

Her home was pleasant, but there was no charm 
there, and she had gone out to others to fill the great 
gap in her life. She had listened to the constant en- 
treaties of her companion to leave home and family 
for him. He led her to believe she loved him. 

One evening when George returned home from 
his office he found an envelope beside his plate, and 
upon opening it found no word, but enclosed was 
their wedding ring. It explained all. He announced 
to the servant that he would dine at the club as Mrs. 
Bowers would not be at home. 

He went to the club and tried to assume an air of 
indifference that no one might suspect the truth. He 
ordered his dinner, but could not eat ; he appeared to 
be very interested in his paper. 

A group of men near him soon attracted his atten- 
tion, and he distinctly heard them say, “Griswold 
sailed for Naples today.” 

He needed no more information. The probabili- 
ties of their future, the awful shame and disgrace 
that would reflect upon him and his children suddenly 
burst upon him. He quietly rose and left immediately 
for his home. 

Arriving there he started toward his own room 
and a great sob burst forth from him, strong man 
that he was, as he passed the door of his innocent 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 51 


but disgraced babies. He went to his room and threw 
himself into a chair, where he sat and reflected till 
morning upon the situation. He reviewed his own 
past life, the sweet relationship that existed between 
his own father and mother, and he thanked God for 
that memory at least. He wondered if he would not 
have been happier if he had settled down on the old 
farm and thrown ambition to the wind. Then like the 
strain of melody of childhood that one hears after 
many years came the memory of a lithe, girlish figure 
in a blue gown. The sweet face and the eyes that 
showed so much soul in their innocent blue depths 
arose before him. The green of the trees and the 
smell of the summer fields — it all came back, and he 
thought dreamily, “we two would have loved if I had 
remained.” 

He arose with a start. Daylight dawned in his 
room and he must face the stern world and its hard 
facts instead of dreaming. First he must go to the 
old mother and father of Jeanette and share his mis- 
ery with them. They had often counseled their 
daughter against the sinfulness of her course toward 
so good and true a husband and lovely children. 


IX 


R eginald and his little sister Sarah had be- 
come great playmates, for he was now four 
years old, and she a toddling miss of two. She 
was quite content to watch him build up his 
mimic towers, for it was her great privilege to tear 
anything down that she chose to in the play room. 

George looked upon his children with a silent pride. 
He granted them many liberties, he sympathized with 
them for the loss of their mother, and he had tried 
to devote all his time outside of his business to them. 
He had secured a good nurse, and gave them his love 
by romping with them, telling them stories, and sym- 
pathizing with them in their little troubles. 

Sunday morning he loved to take them to walk in 
the park. It was their first lessons in nature, and 
the falling of a leaf, the twitter of a bird, or the 
groan of an old tree made them stop and clap their 
hands in delight. 

One morning he and the children were taking their 
accustomed walk, and his heart never went out with 
a greater love for the beauties of nature about him, 
and for the first time since his wife had left him he 
felt almost resigned to the inevitable. He felt the 
love for his children would compensate him for the 
necessity that had driven him apart from the world. 


54 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


The freshness and vividness of his children’s impres- 
sions about them, awakened in him a madness of 
thought to which he had long been a stranger. The 
children were interested in watching the manoeuvres 
of some beetles, and he seated himself upon a rustic 
bench, and let his thoughts drift into a dreamland of 
his own. 

He suddenly became conscious that a woman on a 
bench opposite was looking at him from time to time 
with the light of a partial recognition in her eyes. 
The face vaguely appealed to him as one that he had 
seen before. He wondered where he could have pos- 
sibly seen her, as she looked so unfamiliar, yet some- 
how connected with his boyhood days. She looked 
as if she were equally puzzled. 

An exclamation from the children aroused him 
from his revery, and looking at his time-piece he 
arose, and with a respectful glance toward the lady, 
led the children home to their lunch. 

He didn’t think of the incident during the week, 
but the following Sunday he found himself upon the 
same bench gazing into open space, when the same 
face appeared before him, and he again began to 
dissolve the mystery of the past, and find out what 
epoch of his life this woman must have taken a prin- 
cipal part. 

Suddenly there rose before him the memory of a 
pair of blue eyes which looked into his with a trust- 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 55 


ful look which he had but half understood as a said 
good-by some years before to a little friend of a sum- 
mer’s vacation. 

The eyes before him had something suggestive of 
this episode in his life. Ah, what was it ! Does not 
the face before him have the same sweet expression, 
somewhat matured by time.'' At this moment came 
the consciousness like an electric shock that she had 
awakened to the fact that they were not strangers, 
and that she had been trying to build a bridge of rec- 
ognition from the past to the present. 

It was accomplished by them in the same moment, 
and they arose simultaneously from the benches 
where they were sitting, walked toward each other, 
grasped hands with a long and silent clasp that 
showed that the recognition was perfect and mu- 
tual. 

I did not think I would ever see you again; how 
changed you are,” began Eleanor. 

“I had not the slightest idea of ever meeting you 
here, when the hand of fate should so will it at least. 
You have changed a great deal yourself. I am so 
anxious to know what you have done, and what you 
are doing now,” George answered. 

Eleanor went over every detail of the eight years 
since she had seen him. She told him the struggle 
she had endured to get her education, her ambition 


Lore. 


56 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


to write, her course in college, and now her position 
as journalist on one of the leading papers. 

It was with a feeling of admiration that George 
looked upon her and listened attentively. She spoke 
with a command of language, and in such a straight- 
forward manner that showed him more than her 
words the difference between the little girl then and 
the now intelligent woman. He tried to tell of his 
life but it was very short. His success in business 
and his marriage, carefully avoiding the deep sorrow 
that had been wrecking his life, and the wife who had 
caused it. He called his children to him, and his em- 
barassment was soon put to flight, and pride soon 
took its place as Eleanor drew them to her one on 
each arm and kissed them fervently. 

In those kisses Eleanor poured out love from the 
depth of her heart. Were they not his, and was it 
not a little food for her hungry soul for which she 
had been yearning so long? 

“What lovely children ! You must be very happy 
now with such a dear family, and with success in 
your profession.” She felt like saying that he must 
have a beautiful wife, and how pleased she would be 
to see her; but refrained from doing so, feeling that 
he would surely send his wife to call. 

The terrible situation dawned upon him, and he 
felt that an explanation was necessary ; but something 
held his tongue and would not let him speak. He 


* 


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Sarah 


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A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 57 


felt that he wanted her to sympathize with him, the 
trustfulness of her face told him she would befriend 
him no matter what. He grew dizzy, and reaching 
for his children rose with a few words of how glad 
he was to see her. She gave him her address and 
said nothing about calling. 

He was gone. She did not follow him with her 
eye, but sat and gazed into the distance, and felt how 
cold as usual, how indifferent. Yes, he was married, 
but could he not have asked her to meet his wife. 
Then came back the pain, the wrenching pain of years 
for a love given that was not returned. She wished 
now that she had not seen him. 

As George walked along home a more terrible com- 
bat was going on within him between love and pride. 
Why did he not tell her? Why should he, was it not 
better to end a summer episode abruptly than to go 
on and complicate matters ? He could not get her out 
of his mind. She seemed to gaze into his face con- 
stantly, and it gave him new confidence, and a re- 
newed trust in womanhood. 

The morning sun awoke George, and he wished 
that the day might be a busy one so that he might 
forget the face of the one that had come only yester- 
day into his life again. 

He was not successful, for all day his mind, strong- 
er than his will, would long for the companionship 
and association of one whom he once found such a 


S8 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


good listener to his ambition. He wanted to pour 
out his inmost feeling, and to tell her of his lonesome- 
ness. What other woman did he know whom he 
could ask to pity him? They would think he was 
making love to them, and the men never liked to 
hear of another’s misfortune. 

Every day he resolved to go and see Eleanor, but 
at the last moment he would lose heart. If they 
should be friends what a tangled affair it might make, 
so he let months go by without fulfilling his wish. 


X 


O NE day came news of Jeanette’s death. Having 
I traveled much to keep the sting of remorse 
from eating out her heart, they had come to 
Monte Carlo for the season. When the new- 
ness wore off, and she was beginning to reflect upon 
her home and babies, the awful future before her. 
she begged Mr. Griswold to go to unknown lands, 
where the beauty, the change, or the attractiveness, 
would keep her from thinking. 

On reaching this beautiful city he at once became 
interested in the games, and they remained longer 
than Jeanette wished. She longed to go, but every day 
added new charm, and he put her off from day to 
day. Soon he began to lose and he played with more 
fervor than ever, eager to get back to where he was 
at first. He became irritable and impatient, and 
laughed at Jeanette for her cowardice. 

She sat by the sea one morning watching the 
waves, and they never seemed to beautiful before, so 
blue both sky and sea, so pure yet so treacherous. 
The waves rolled up and kissed her feet as if entreat- 
ing her to join them, then retreated. 

She gazed and thought, and asked herself many 
questions. Why had she done so, why had she left 
her husband and her children? She knew not herself. 


6o A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


Was it the unexplainable desire to fill one’s life that 
cries out ever in its restless anguish? We have plen- 
ty, we have everything, yet never satisfied. Jeanette 
thought herself mean, despicable, and as she went 
over every detail, she could not see where she had 
harmed a single person, but those dearest of all, her 
own. She had deserted them, made them suffer, and 
now as she suffered in return she could only ask her- 
self why? why? 

She arose and went out upon the rocks. She stood 
and admired the beauty of the water as it dashed up- 
on the stones beneath her feet, and she again asked 
herself why it ever continued thus and never wearied, 
but no answer came. She could solve it no more than 
herself. She leaped forward and the waves wrapped 
themselves about her, and perhaps they told her why. 

Several weeks had passed since George had heard 
of his wife’s sad ending. He showed no signs of 
grief, yet he suffered. He felt that she must have 
realized having wronged him, and he forgave her for 
all the grief she had caused him. Now he could go 
ot Eleanor and tell her; she might not be interested, 
but he wanted to reveal that which was wrecking his 
life. Then perhaps he could begin anew, take upon 
himself new affiliations and bury the past. 

With this determination strong upon him, he 
mounted the stairs one evening which led to Elea- 
nor’s home. He found her studio an artistic place, 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 6i 


quite conducive to study. She was pleased to see 
him, but surprised and somewhat embarassed. 

It took some time for each one to gain self-posses- 
sion. Their conversation drifted far and wide upon 
foreign topics, as he was trying to bring their talk 
to a more personal theme. A few photographs about 
the room of old friends in common brought them to 
their home, their friends, married and dead. Eleanor 
rather avoided the principle happenings, for she felt 
that they were treading upon dangerous ground ; but 
George now had a foothold upon the great thought 
that had been worrying him for weeks, and was not 
going to give it up until he felt he had succeeded 
partly in portraying it. 

He asked of people in whom he never had the 
least interest, but they were the beads which he was 
stringing in order to become more prolific in words in 
introducing himself into the conversation. When he 
came upon himself gradually, it was of their peculiar 
meeting, the summer that followed, and the princi- 
pal incidents of his life as they succeeded one another. 
When he came to Jeanette he did not dare to stop lest 
he should lose courage, but related everything as 
though he were reviewing it only for himself. He 
left out nothing, he painted every detail with such 
minute correctness that he held Eleanor spellbound, 
and this helped him on to the very end. He seemed 
to feel that she was deeply interest and she was. Her 


62 A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 


sympathy strengthened, so much so, that when he 
looked at Eleanor she was crying. 

They were tears that came from the heart. In all 
the past years she had not held any ill feeling toward 
him, only she felt a vague dullness for working so 
hard herself and imagining George climbing the lad- 
der of life without any obstructions. Now to know 
he too had suffered, that his life had been blighted, 
tears flowed for him. 

What miseries can come out in the drippings of the 
soul’s woe ! George’s frame shook, but he controlled 
himself. He went to Eleanor and slipped his arm 
about her. He raised her face to his, but she covered 
it with her hands and continued her wailing. 

“What makes you cry?” he pleadingly asked. 

Still she didn’t respond. He commenced to take a 
brighter view of the future, he saw farther than he 
had for several years. It opened out before him with 
as much hopefulness as a green prairie does to the 
wanderer who has just crossed the desert. George 
rambled on about different things that he was going 
to do, and Eleanor became interested and looked up 
with a kind smile. 

He drew her closely to him, all the love of his 
strong manhood became awakened. The love which 
he had not felt years before now welled up in him 
tenfold. 

He wooed her in words that were the sweetest mu- 


A ROMANCE OF WOLF HOLLOW 63 


sic Eleanor had ever heard. George impressed her 
with his sincerity and his love. He told her nothing 
that he did not actually feel. It was not the tale of 
an idle day, it was the essence of misery on the part 
of both. It was a love that was planted in hearts 
wanting experience, and ripened after they had 
learned their lessons well. 


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